Pieces Of You
by lemony muffins
Summary: Seven years on, a future for Miley and Lilly that no-one could have predicted... Rated T for swearing and violence. This will get dark.
1. Chapter 1

The noxious fog of fusion war curled across the devastated city of New Malibu, pooling in blast craters and clinging to the twisted skeletons of office blocks and skyscrapers. One hundred and eighty-four feet above the scorched concrete, Miley looked out through her foot-thick forceproof visor at the city's corpse slumped beneath the interminable gray of the pollution-soaked sky. Below the survivors of last night's devastating attack were crawling like ants across the urban wasteland, searching for family or raiding the pockets of the countless dead for cash and valuables.

_-Level two repairs are complete_. _Commencing system diagnostics. _The voice, though tinny, was unmistakable as Lilly's. Today she sounded sad.

The visor acted as a display, flicking rapidly through a blur of statistics for the next few seconds. -_Diagnostics complete. System functionality is at eighty-four percent. Are you hungry, Miley?_

"I'm fine, thanks," said Miley. "Let's go." There was a long low hum as the hydraulic engines started up, and children climbing on Lilly's great feet scampered out of her path.

Miley lifted her right leg and the thirty thousand tons of metal, rubber and explosive destruction that were her best friend moved with her, stepping over the few surviving structures in a sea of rubble as Lilly approached the Pacific shore. The brilliant blue ocean, idyllic backdrop of their teenage years, was now reduced to a toxic dump, a murky swamp equally empty of life and beauty. So many memories...

A low warning beep sounded just behind Miley's right ear, and she tensed inwardly.

-_I'm picking up a signal on the horizon. It could be the next wave._ _I'll establish a link with base._

Instantly a portion of the visor showed a live link to the underground government facility where Lilly had been 'created' – that wasn't the right word, but for all her lyrical prowess Miley was unable to find the one that was. A moment later the expansively grave countenance of Professor James Carson filled the screen.

Three months ago Carson had been a handsome research scientist in his late twenties pioneering the field of robotronics. The invasion, and his sudden promotion, had added ten years and piled the incalculable weight of world-saving responsibility upon his shoulders. "Stewart," he said simply with a curt nod.

"Better batten down the hatches, Jim," said Miley. "Looks like more Varians on the way. Permission to engage."

Carson frowned, and his eyes were lost in shadow. "More already? The attacks are growing ever more frequent." He glanced down at a display summarising the diagnostic results and shook his head. "Lilly's systems aren't fully restored yet."

"We'll be fine," said Miley, keeping her voice calm and even, though inside she was in turmoil. "All her vitals are functioning correctly."

"No," said Carson with an air of finality. "Without full recovery, there's a chance that Lilly could act irrationally or misinterpret your commands. Come back to base, we can try to speed up her regeneration."

"And in the meantime you'll send out more men to be slaughtered? We can handle this."

Carson sighed, his frown deepening. He softened his tone. "I'm sorry, Miley. We have to distract them until Lilly can safely re-enter the fray. In the meantime, get some sleep. You look like shit."

"Straight back at you, Carson." The display winked out. The prospect of sleep loomed over her like a thundercloud as Miley thought of her loved ones far below. Daddy, Jackson, Rico... While she rested, they were defenceless. Would they survive until she awoke?

"We won't make it back in time, will we?" She already knew the answer. There was a brief hesitation before Lilly's reply, though no computation time was required.

_-Probability of Varian onslaught 93%. Estimated arrival time two hours. Estimated repair time six hours. _Lilly sounded apologetic.

Miley sighed. "Let's go home."


	2. Chapter 2

Five hours later Miley awoke from a sleep filled with nightmarish watercolours of her family and friends being slaughtered while she watched transfixed, powerless to help. The nightmares seemed more real than the life she awoke to, and left her exhausted. She revived herself with a cold shower before leaving her quarters and hurrying to the launch bay.

Lilly's shell stood hulking and silent, engineers swarming across her blast-marked surface as they made the necessary repairs. Carson spotted her and broke away from a group of scientists to stride over to her.

"Are we ready to go?" she asked abruptly.

"Nearly," replied Carson. "We need another 16 minutes to recalibrate for the replacement parts. Your father called while you were resting, he asked if you could get back to him."

"Why didn't you wake me? It could be important." Her father almost never called while she was working, and her mind raced with possibilites, each more horrible than the last.

"He told me not to wake you," said Carson unapologetically.

She turned and headed to the comms room, punching a button on the VDU to get an outside line. A few button presses later and Robbie Stewart appeared on the display. He answered immediately, and had clearly been waiting by the screen.

Her father bore half a century well, though the war had painted a network of worry lines between his bold features. Headstrong as ever he kept his worries to himself, but today the smile was a little grimmer, the lines a little deeper, and Miley knew something was wrong.

"What is it?" she asked at once, unable to bear the tension.

"Whoa there, Bud. Now everything's going to be just -"

"Daddy, you know I love you, but you're a terrible bluffer. Please tell me what's wrong."

Robbie took a deep breath. "It's Rico. He was caught in a fusion blast around an hour ago while trying to make it back to the house."

Miley's heart dropped like a stone. She felt sick. "Oh my God, is he..."

"He's alive, and he's been taken into hospital."

Miley's heart pounded in her chest. Since the attacks began, every hospital in California overflowed with the injured and dying. If Rico was actually being treated already it had to be bad.

The door opened and a chief technician looked around it nervously. "Excuse me, but launch preparations are underway, Miss Stewart."

"Just a minute," snapped Miley, turning back to her father. "I have to go now, Daddy. But as soon as those Varian bastards are dead I'll be right along to the hospital."

"Be careful, baby girl."

The screen went black, and Miley took a moment to gather her emotions. Then she opened the door, and headed back to Lilly, who powering up.

"Is everything okay?" Carson asked, genuine concern in his voice.

"No, Jim. Everything is definitely not okay. Are we ready to go?"

"Nearly." Carson hesitated. "Miley, you need to be as calm as possible so you can sync with Lilly. Any strong emotions could throw her off."

Miley forced a smile. "I'm fine. Really."

He nodded doubtfully as she climbed the ladder to access the control chamber set into the great titanium chest plate of her best friend.

-_Hello again, Miley. Did you sleep well?_

"Sure." Miley sat back in the control chair, trying to get comfortable as she was secured in place.

-_You're upset._

"It's Rico," replied the pilot shortly. "He's been hurt."

Lilly paused. -_In the attack?_

"Yeah, in the attack. He's in the hospital."

Lilly remained respectfully silent as her restraints were removed, and then as the hatch above her slid open. The platform she was on began to rise later, and a few moments later they emerged just outside the city centre to a scene of familiar chaos. A Varian split off from a pack and snaked through the air towards them, the fusion-streaked sky glinting off its wet red scales. A moment before impact Miley's slim fingers raced around a control stick, and Lilly ducked, unsheathing the twenty metre plasma sword that rested under her left thigh plate. She snapped the blade upright as the Varian swept overhead, cleaving it neatly in two halves which crashed into a hillside. Tendrils and "green goo", the popular name for the mysterious substance that kept the aliens ticking, splattered over Lilly and onto the ground below.

Without pause, Miley launched her best friend into the nearest swarm of creatures, slicing and slashing as they tried to wind themselves around the great robot. As she dispensed with them she spied another group attacking a squad of battle choppers pumping rounds of protogun fire uselessly into the relentless aggressors.

"Why are they getting so close?" wondered Miley out loud. Then she saw. A Varian had entangled a tentacle in the rails of the leading chopper and was holding it captive, swinging it around like a child's rattle. The remaining helicopters were focusing their fire on the creature in a valiantly futile attempt to free their commander. Now its friends were sneaking up behind the soldiers, and they didn't stand a chance - unless...

Lilly's free arm quickly shot to the holster on her right hip, pulling out the huge plasma gun that rested there and quickly taking aim. Her first shots thudded into the Varians behind the free choppers, causing the beasts to swell and burst. She waved at the airborne soldiers to fall back, then took aim at the base of the creature holding their leader.

The aim had to be perfect, and it was. But as the bright white bolt streaked across the sky her grimace of satisfaction fell away to open horror. Powerlessly she watched as the thing twisted, faster than she had ever seen one move, effortlessly moving the chopper into the path of the bolt an instant before impact. The chopper and its pilot were obliterated instantly.

"SHIT!" Miley smashed her fist into the padding in front of her head. "Those bastards!"

-_It wasn't your fault,_ said Lilly as the afterburners onher calves kicked in and she sprinted towards the Varian, diverting extra charge to her sword as she stamped neat six feet deep footprints into the barren earth. The sword burnt bright white as it sliced through the screeching Varian in six places, the resulting slop hitting the floor to mingle with the chopper's debris and the smoking skeleton of the pilot.

-_Behind us, Miley!_

She began to turn too late, and sixty tons of Varian smashed into Lilly's legs, toppling the great machine and flattening a disused farm in the process. Miley cursed, annoyed that she had been caught off guard as the dented Lilly struggled to her feet, swaying like a colossal drunk. A nearby group of Varians pressed home their advantage, and Miley was barely able to stave off the attack. Her sword flashed, etching a complex criss-cross pattern as the Varians were finely diced.

"That was too close," muttered Miley.

-_Miley, the hospital is under attack! _The panic was clear in Lilly's electronic tones.

Again the afterburners kicked in as Lilly began to sprint towards the city, but after a few gargantuan strides the leg that had taken the impact of the Varian suddenly gave way. Lilly smashed into the ground once more, this time taking out several suburban dwellings. As Miley's visor hurtled towards the street blow she saw the white of the eyes of a terrified man who escaped by a matter of inches, and she was sure that others would not have been so lucky. The jolt flung Miley forward within the control chamber, her head thudding into the padded wall as she was nearly knocked unconscious.

That could have been the hospital, Miley told herself as Lilly struggled to her knees, slashing defensively at the circling Varians. The leg was useless now, and she dragged it along behind her as they edged closer to the hospital, resting on Lilly's elbows and blasting hot plasma at the swarm of Varians descending upon it.

Finally the last surviving alien sprayed the city with its insides and a sudden quiet fell over New Malibu as Lilly powered down. Entombed within her best friend's chest, a bruised and exhausted Miley unstrapped herself and waited for the retrieval team.

Some minutes passed.

"Lilly?"

-_Miley..._

"Thank you."


End file.
